What I Ate Yesterday (as if you care)

A student doing a project for a sports nutrition class asked me to record what I ate yesterday. Since I get lots of questions here on this blog (and by email) about sport nutrition I thought it might serve as a good reference point for future discussion. I'm sure this will prompt some questions on the topic. So the followng is my nutrition log from Thursday, June 10. I don't know how many calories this was or the breakdown by nutrients (I never count calories), but expect someone may figure that out and let us know.

Breakfast

2c coffee

6oz grilled turkey w/1 Tbs olive oil

3 carrots, small

3 slices bell pepper

22 grapes

1 Hawaiian papaya

2 fish oil capsules (480mg)

3 hour easy bike ride

1 Clif bar

Post-workout recovery snack

10oz orange juice

1c Coca-Cola

8 large crackers

1 banana

Mid-afternoon snack

3 handfuls of grapes and mixed berries

10 oz orange juice

1 Balance bar (at golf course)

Dinner (at restaurant with family)

Large mixed-greens salad with vinaigrette dressing

6 jumbo shrimp (boiled)

1c sliced jicama

6 thin slices of zucchini

1c black rice

1 beer

1 brownie, plain

2 fish oil capsules (480mg)

Comments

[Chad Chisholm]

Joe,
It's fun to imagine your day based on your nutrition log. It looks like you're having a fun, relaxed time. I'm jealous.

[Linda]

Joe -it looks like your diet is not fully "Paleo". Are you adding grain starches because of your training regimen? Or was yesterday an exception to your standard diet? No comment about the brownie & beer :-).

[Andrew]

You don't know how timely this is. I've been keeping a very strict food diary this week and it is the only way (for me) to get my weight down. Great post Joe thanks, I just love your blog and advice.

[David]

Looks a little low in protein,or am i wrong?
And yes we care Joe, I find it very interesting as to what the experts,coaches and other athletes eat,especially if its Paleo based.

[David Gottlieb]

This is actually very insightful. The Paleo diet can be challenging at times and it's nice to see it in practice from the man himself. If it's not to big of a pain, I'd love to continue reading posts like this.

[Justin]

how much water did you drink through out the day and how much do you normally try to drink?

[stillhardtailing]

No protein in your recovery meal? Or is that just for after hard efforts?

Also did you walk or ride the golf course?

[Joe Friel]

Linda--If you read the Paleo Diet for Athletes you might recall that there are 5 stages of eating. That evening meal was after a 3.5h ride. Some starch is necessary for recovery in stages 3-4. I might also add that one shouldn't try to perfect when it comes to nutrition. Would you spend the rest of your life never again eating a brownie (or cookie or apple pie, etc)? I suspect not. The only question is, when will you eat it?

[Joe Friel]

Justin-I drank enough to quench my thirst. Do that and you are drinking the right amount. That's why we have thirst. There is no generic number that is right for every day for every person.

[Joe Friel]

still...--you're right. It was a very busy day. Things aren't always perfect. I always walk the course. Very relaxing.

[Linda]

Joe - I was wondering more about the brown rice - the brownie and beer I understand completely!. I follow Dr. Cordain's newsletter & blog and he is really down on grains of any sort because of lectins, phytate, acid balance, etc. I am not fully Paleo, in that I eat sprouted wheat flour products (OK, pancakes) on occasion. I know there are those who can totally avoid all grains but there are times when I just need more carbs than I can get with yams. It's interesting for me to see what a real-world athlete eats when trying to keep Paleo.

[Amy Gulley]

I AM interested!! You are my source of reference on a daily basis as I TRY to sway my boyfriend away from processed training "stuff" ( gels, bars, sports drinks)...I always ask him " what would papa friel think" and then the answer appears. Believe me, he was quick to show me this blog that included a coke, beer and brownie! LOVE IT!!!!

[Joe Friel]

Linda--I understand completely. Even Dr. C says that Paleo eaters should cheat some. People who don't cheat some wind up eventualy binging. I eat a lot of hi-gly carb after a hard or long workout. Much less after an easy, short ride. It's very difficult to recover quickly from hard training on fruit and vegs. He and I have talked about that many times and the need for starch at these times. He's a runner, BTW, but doesn't race.

[Paige]

"People who don't cheat some wind up eventualy binging."

I actually have to disagree with this, Joe. I've gone fully Paleo Diet for Athletes since the beginning of the year with no cheating (I start about 85% around September, with some cheating before 1/1/10), and besides the obvious health benefits from the diet that I have experienced very clearloy, I've found that I actually enjoy eating exactly the foods on the diet more than I enjoy some of the previous favorites (pasta, cheese, milk, etc.). Furthermore, the couple of times that I "cheated" before going full bore- which were meals that included legumes, dairy, and grains- I felt so horrible after eating them that I have no interest in feeling that way again.

[Roberto]

Hello Joe,

What do you drink in a moderate effort ride? (4 hrs. long) I think I'm following your advice and fill my bottles with orange juice (direct from oranges, not bottled) and a water and maltodextrin mix (Nessucar from Nestle), and a few fructose pills to sweeten it.
Regards from Chile,

Roberto

[Joe Friel]

Roberto--The best test is if it's working for you. If so, stay with it. Good luck!

[harley]

What I find funny is that Joe Friel is an absolute genius with endurance athletes in his OBJECTIVE training guides.

But Joe, when it comes to your diet bro, your pretty subjective if you dont count calories!! :) How can we ensure sufficient carb calories to ensure sufficient glycogen reserves? Isnt glycogen the main limiting factor behind hydration? Shouldnt we as athletes 'ensure sufficient glycogen in the tank to power thru workouts and get the desired effect??'

I did the math on your diet, you get around 650calories from fresh fruit and a disturbing 520calories from beer, coke and a brownie!! :) Doesnt sound to 'paleo' to me! :) I dont think cave man ate brownies, coke or beer! And for the record its been 11 years since Ive had a cup of coffee, 10 years since a coke and Ive won 2 24hr solo xc races with ZERO pills, stimulants etc. Ive been a vegan for 9years too..

Anyways, getting back to my original ramble, your are following a very high carbohydrate diet and thats great for anyone health wise and great for athletes performance wise. Using 'cronometer' I calculated your getting approx 73% of your calories from carbs, 13% from protein and 14% from fat.

So your following a high carb, low fat, low protein diet. According the leading cardiologists, cancer specialists like Dr Ornish, Dr McDougall, Dr Klaper, Dr Gerson, Dr Barnard etc a low fat, high carb, plant based diet best serves human health.

I went out training with Lance last year and learnt that his good mate Rip Esselstyn is a vegan and he put Lance on a vegan diet to help overcome his cancer treatments....Rip has a book now called 'engine2diet.com' and Lance has his name on the back...

Me? I had chronic fatigue and went vegan and cured it. Im racing Div 1 and the only guy in the bunch that doesnt 'load up' before a race if we know what I mean..and using stimulants doesnt make people bad people but it means Im not willing to compromise my health to ride a bit quicker..

Thanks Joe for all your articles you put out there. Ive been reading em since 99 and they sure have helped me become a better athlete/person.

Thanks. (and yeah, the midfoot cleats rock!)

[Duane]

Looks like about 3000-3200 calories